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A rise in the number of applications for Armenian citizenship has meant that, in some cases, the required checks have not been completed within the statutory deadline.
Interior Minister Arpine Sargsyan said this during a briefing with journalists on 4 November, responding to a question about delays in processing applications.
She said citizenship service staff had worked Saturdays and Sundays at various stages to speed up the processing of the backlog.
The minister said the launch of a digital platform for submitting citizenship applications on 1 January 2027 had made the service more accessible, significantly increasing the number of applications.
“We began receiving a substantially larger number of applications, and this is why we often could not meet the statutory deadline and complete all the checks. At various stages, I designated Saturdays and Sundays as working days for citizenship service staff to ease our workload,” Sargsyan said.
She said all applicants underwent the same checks and no exceptions could be made.
“The time limits are there to allow for checks, and we need to know whom we are granting citizenship of the Republic of Armenia to. Our procedure is standard and applies to everyone, to all individuals, and we cannot make exceptions,” the minister stressed.
Sargsyan expressed hope that the situation would improve by the end of the year.